Education adversely affected

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

irishmom

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2011
Messages
406
Reaction score
380
I know I had been on this board a lot yesterday freaking out about my GPA. I know there isn't anything I can do about it, except get all A's next year. I do however have a question about my pending application (haven't submitted will within next day or so)

Should I write something about my education being adversely affected by other than academic reasons? Here is my story, kinda long, but it is what it is.

I graduated hs in 1990. I went to college the fall after graduating, and got pregnant over Christmas break. When I found out I was very upset, and my GPA suffered bc of that, getting mostly C's and W's. I also got mono and was unable to attend class for 3 weeks bc, the college quarantined me.

My daughter was born in Oct. of 1991. Her dad was abusive, and I moved home and signed up for classes. I got into a huge fight with my mom and moved back with my daughters dad. I stayed there and again started classes in the spring of 1995.

In April of 1995 my ex beat me severely. I was hospitalized with broken fingers and jaw, concussion, cracked ribs and skull. This time I left him for good, however I did not W my classes, and they all became F's on my transcript. Now my GPA refelects these F's.

I am a dental hygienist. In hygiene school I never received a grade lower than a B, and was dean's list the entire last year of school.

I have been back in school for 3 years, and do have an occasional C, but majority of classes are B's with as many A's as C's. Being a full time wife and mother takes me away from studying as much as I would like, but I am able to maintain a 3.2 since I went back to school.

Thanks for taking the time to read this long diatribe, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
I know I had been on this board a lot yesterday freaking out about my GPA. I know there isn't anything I can do about it, except get all A's next year. I do however have a question about my pending application (haven't submitted will within next day or so)

Should I write something about my education being adversely affected by other than academic reasons? Here is my story, kinda long, but it is what it is.

I graduated hs in 1990. I went to college the fall after graduating, and got pregnant over Christmas break. When I found out I was very upset, and my GPA suffered bc of that, getting mostly C's and W's. I also got mono and was unable to attend class for 3 weeks bc, the college quarantined me.

My daughter was born in Oct. of 1991. Her dad was abusive, and I moved home and signed up for classes. I got into a huge fight with my mom and moved back with my daughters dad. I stayed there and again started classes in the spring of 1995.

In April of 1995 my ex beat me severely. I was hospitalized with broken fingers and jaw, concussion, cracked ribs and skull. This time I left him for good, however I did not W my classes, and they all became F's on my transcript. Now my GPA refelects these F's.

I am a dental hygienist. In hygiene school I never received a grade lower than a B, and was dean's list the entire last year of school.

I have been back in school for 3 years, and do have an occasional C, but majority of classes are B's with as many A's as C's. Being a full time wife and mother takes me away from studying as much as I would like, but I am able to maintain a 3.2 since I went back to school.

Thanks for taking the time to read this long diatribe, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

You might want to consider the disadvantaged status section. The education adversely affected is usually for minor things, and is limited to 600 characters.
 
I know I had been on this board a lot yesterday freaking out about my GPA. I know there isn't anything I can do about it, except get all A's next year. I do however have a question about my pending application (haven't submitted will within next day or so)

Should I write something about my education being adversely affected by other than academic reasons? Here is my story, kinda long, but it is what it is.

I graduated hs in 1990. I went to college the fall after graduating, and got pregnant over Christmas break. When I found out I was very upset, and my GPA suffered bc of that, getting mostly C's and W's. I also got mono and was unable to attend class for 3 weeks bc, the college quarantined me.

My daughter was born in Oct. of 1991. Her dad was abusive, and I moved home and signed up for classes. I got into a huge fight with my mom and moved back with my daughters dad. I stayed there and again started classes in the spring of 1995.

In April of 1995 my ex beat me severely. I was hospitalized with broken fingers and jaw, concussion, cracked ribs and skull. This time I left him for good, however I did not W my classes, and they all became F's on my transcript. Now my GPA refelects these F's.

I am a dental hygienist. In hygiene school I never received a grade lower than a B, and was dean's list the entire last year of school.

I have been back in school for 3 years, and do have an occasional C, but majority of classes are B's with as many A's as C's. Being a full time wife and mother takes me away from studying as much as I would like, but I am able to maintain a 3.2 since I went back to school.

Thanks for taking the time to read this long diatribe, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Wow. That is some rough stuff you went through. I'm glad that you're ok though. Hmm maybe you could write out your story in a word document and keep it on the side just in case. If you do get an interview, perhaps you'll have an opportunity to tell your story then. I remember the interview at Loma Linda asking me, "Tell me about a tragedy or tribulation you went through and how you got through it."

Edit: Or you could do what Ionz said.
 
I know I had been on this board a lot yesterday freaking out about my GPA. I know there isn't anything I can do about it, except get all A's next year. I do however have a question about my pending application (haven't submitted will within next day or so)

Should I write something about my education being adversely affected by other than academic reasons? Here is my story, kinda long, but it is what it is.

I graduated hs in 1990. I went to college the fall after graduating, and got pregnant over Christmas break. When I found out I was very upset, and my GPA suffered bc of that, getting mostly C's and W's. I also got mono and was unable to attend class for 3 weeks bc, the college quarantined me.

My daughter was born in Oct. of 1991. Her dad was abusive, and I moved home and signed up for classes. I got into a huge fight with my mom and moved back with my daughters dad. I stayed there and again started classes in the spring of 1995.

In April of 1995 my ex beat me severely. I was hospitalized with broken fingers and jaw, concussion, cracked ribs and skull. This time I left him for good, however I did not W my classes, and they all became F's on my transcript. Now my GPA refelects these F's.

I am a dental hygienist. In hygiene school I never received a grade lower than a B, and was dean's list the entire last year of school.

I have been back in school for 3 years, and do have an occasional C, but majority of classes are B's with as many A's as C's. Being a full time wife and mother takes me away from studying as much as I would like, but I am able to maintain a 3.2 since I went back to school.

Thanks for taking the time to read this long diatribe, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

so you're 40 years old?
 
Yes I am 40. I have a 21 year old senior in college, a 15 year old junior in hs and a 13 year old 8th grader. I worked full time as a hygienist until 2010, then went part time work part time school, realized that wasn't gonna work (got a C in Gen Chem 3), so went to full time student, full time mom and wife. My grades are generally B's with some A's and some C's. I go to school , come home, cook, clean, help with homework, take to volleyball, soccer, etc and then study from about 9-12. My husband works full time and then some to make up for the fact that by my no longer working we lost approx. $65,000/year. I can multitask and still get acceptable grades, however I am concerned that the schools will not look past my GPA to see what kind of an asset I can be to their program.
 
Yes I am 40. I have a 21 year old senior in college, a 15 year old junior in hs and a 13 year old 8th grader. I worked full time as a hygienist until 2010, then went part time work part time school, realized that wasn't gonna work (got a C in Gen Chem 3), so went to full time student, full time mom and wife. My grades are generally B's with some A's and some C's. I go to school , come home, cook, clean, help with homework, take to volleyball, soccer, etc and then study from about 9-12. My husband works full time and then some to make up for the fact that by my no longer working we lost approx. $65,000/year. I can multitask and still get acceptable grades, however I am concerned that the schools will not look past my GPA to see what kind of an asset I can be to their program.

Many schools like non-traditional applicants, so keep your head up! Show them that this is everything you want now on your application, and take your time if you need to do so. I'm pretty sure a quality application trumps a super early application any day. GL:luck:
 
Thank you for the encouraging words. You know when I first decided to go back to school I told myself that I would rather try and fail than not try and wonder what if, but now I don't want to fail. I have put a lot into this, sacrifice for myself and family...

That was why I was wondering if some where on my app I should mention my circumstances...I'm kind of embarrassed about it, but I have grown and am a better person because of it.

Should I mention it, and if so where? Disadvantaged (even though now I'm not technically financially disadvantaged) or academics adversely affected.

Thank you.
 
I considered doing disadvantaged because my brother was put in jail during my sophomore year and my adviser advised against it. Now my situation was not as dramatic, but she said you want to be very careful with the disadvantaged thing and be able to provide ample proof (whatever that means?) She said that often when she sat on admission committees sometimes the stories became so dramatic that the "realness" comes into question! I do want to make sure you know I am not saying I don't believe you-I'm just repeating what my adviser said. I would just suggest be very careful with the wording and the way you present it.
 
Thank you for the encouraging words. You know when I first decided to go back to school I told myself that I would rather try and fail than not try and wonder what if, but now I don't want to fail. I have put a lot into this, sacrifice for myself and family...

That was why I was wondering if some where on my app I should mention my circumstances...I'm kind of embarrassed about it, but I have grown and am a better person because of it.

Should I mention it, and if so where? Disadvantaged (even though now I'm not technically financially disadvantaged) or academics adversely affected.

Thank you.

The disadvantaged status section applies broadly to "social, economic, or educational" factors. So your position is perfectly viable.

And plus, it's 600 characters (adversely affected) vs. 4500 characters (disadvantaged status). It's in your best interest to basically write a second personal statement to explain your entire situation. 600 characters is way too limited for that purpose. I could barely fit my manual dexterity section because of the character limitation, so I can't imagine explaining a heartfelt experience in that same span.

And yes, you should definitely mention it. Because your application will be seen in a different light. Without including your situation, you will likely be at a huge disadvantage.
 
Top